Suction cleaner



April 22, 1941. E. R. swAN'N sucTIoN CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Dec. 3l, 1957 l NVE N TO R Edward R. Swann ATTORNEY 'April 22, `1941. E. R. swANN SUCTION CLEANER Filed Dec.'4

3l, 1937 i 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Edward k. Swann ATTO R N EY Patented \pr. 22, 1941 SUCTION CLEANER Edward R. Swann, North Canton, Ohio, assignor to TheHoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application la further object Vof the invention to provide a suction cleaner incorporating new and improved surface-agitating means. Another objectl of the invention is\to provide a suction cleaner embodying rotar-yagltating means and oscillating agitating means. A still further object of the invention is to provide a motor driven suction cleaner in which the rotary agitating means are driven directly from the power unit and the oscillating agitating means are driven directly from the rotary agitating means. Still another object of the invention is to provide in a suction cleaner a rotary brush which is power driven and which actuates'oscillating rigid beater ele-l ments which deliver substantially vertical blows to a surface covering undergoing cleaning. A still further object of the invention is to provide a suction cleaner in which rotary agitating means cooperate with reciprocating agitating means to effect surface agitation, the means being mounted in a new and novel manner insuring ease of removal and replacement. These and other more specific objects will appear upon reading the following specication and claims and upon considering in connection therewith the attached drawings to which they relate.

Referring now to the drawings in which apreferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a modern suction cleaner with certain parts of the casing broken away to show the agitating means constructed in .accordance with the present invention embodied therein;

Figure 2 is abottom view of the cleaner nozzle showing the agitating means positioned therein;

Figure 3 is a section upon the line I--3 of Figure 2 and shows the supporting means of the rotary and reciprocating agitating means;

Figure 4 is a section through the nozzle upon the line 4--4 of Figure 3 and shows the supporting means for the rotary and oscillating means;

Figure 5 is a section upon the line 5--5 of Figure 3 and shows the cooperating relationship December 31, 1937,v serial No. 182.666

s claim. (cris-s) between the rotary agitator and the oscillating agitator;

Figure 6 is a view in perspective of the oscillating agitator removed from the cleaner nozzle; Figure 7 is a view in perspective of the end plate of the rotary agitator. y

Emcient suction cleaning is accomplished by the combination of agitating means Iand air cleaning means. The present invention is directed to improvements'in the former. Rotary agitators have long been recognized as a desirable cleaning means and oscillating' means have been appreciated 'to a lesser extent. The latter has certain desirable characteristics in that a directly vertical blow can be delivered to the siu'face covering undergoing cleaning. Such means have ,been previously subject to thev disadvantages,

however, that the desirable brushingv eiIect ofl rotary agitating means has been lost.- Also, they have been dimcult to actuate in a satisfactory manner with a minimum of vibration transference to the entire cleaner. By the present invention applicant has provided a suction cleaner in which an oscillating or reciprocating agitator delivers to the surface covering undergoing cleaning blows which are substantially normal to it at the point of contact. With this positive beating function has been combined the desirable brushing action obtained from a rotary agitator. Vibration has been reduced to a minimum through the driving of the oscillating 4beater element directly from the rotary agitator by means having-small inertia.

Reilerringagain to the drawings a modern suction cleaner is illustrated in Figure 1 which comprises in general the well known parts of a cleaner including a nozzle i, a fan chamber 2, a motor casing 3. and a dust bag I. An unshown driving menor positioned within me motor mins 3 actuates an unshown fan within chamber I to create a suction which is enective within the air passageway i below the chamber 2 and also in the nozzle I where the underlying surface covering is lifted by the suction into' contact 'with fr fait and Iii, movably support the cleaner upon the covering undergoing cleaning. The rear wheels are provided with height-adjusting means, indicated generally by the reference character I5, by which they may be raised and lowered relative to the casing for the purpose of raising and lowering the nozzle i relative Ato the covering undergoing cleaning. A pivoted handle I6 is provided by which the machine may be propelled over the surface covering upon the supporting wheels I3 and I4 and common and Well known handle-positioning means I1 function to retain it within a vertical storage position, a lower horizontal position, or within an intermediate range.

The dust bag 4 is removably secured to the exhaust outlet of the fan chamber 2 by manually operable securing means I8 so that when necessary the bag can be removed to be emptied. Un-

shown in the drawings, but of a vcommon and well known type, is the upper supporting means of the bag 4 which is preferably connected to the upper end of the handle I6 in a known manner.

The present invention resides specifically in the agitating means which have been described in general terms as rotary agitator 8 and oscillating agitator 9. clusive, discloses these structures in detail.

The rotary agitator 8 comprises a cylindrical body which extends the length of the nozzle i. Body 28 is formed with axially extending' recasses or brush seats 2I Within which are positioned removable brush elements 22 which may be of a common and well known elongated rigid back type. it its ends the body is provided with end plates 23 upon the exterior surface of which are formed eccentrics, as is clearly illustrated in Figure 1, and which are indicated by the reference character 24. A bearing 25 is mounted upon lthe interior surface of each end plate 23 and rotatably supports the agitator body 28 upon a through supporting shaft 26, the ends of which are removably carried by .the nozzle end walls in a manner hereinafter described.

Each end wall of nozzle I is provided with a slot 30 which opens downwardly and which is of such width that it slidingly receives the flattened end of agitator shaft 26 when the agitator is inserted through the mouth of the nozzle between lips il .and 1. Pivotally mounted uponeach nozzie wall is a latch member 3I supported by a pivot pin 32 and provided with a cam groove 33. A looped wire spring 34 carried by a pin 35 fixed to the nozzle end wall is secured to latch 3l beyond its pivot point 32 and, through being o adapted 'to be moved over center upon the pivotal movement of latch 3i functions to hold the latch in its uppermost or agitator securing position, as illustrated in Figure 4, or in its lower position in which the latch is pivoted downwardly. This downward pivotal movement of the latch is accomplished by the operator pulling downwardly upon the ledge 36 at the outer end of the latch and results in the forcing of the ends of agitator shaft 2B downwardly from the groove 30 in the nozzle end walls by the action of the cani groove 33 in a manner which is believed to be evident and obvious. In. inserting the agitator the operation is merely the reverse with the latch being pivoted upwardly to force the shaft upwardly in' the groove 3B under the cam action of groove 33.

Referring new to the oscillating agitator 9, and to Figure 6 in particular. it is seen that that member comprises elongated rigid beater mem- Reference now to Figures 2 to '1, in.

2,239,666 wheels, indicated by the reference characters I3 bers 40, 40 which are carried by rigid end members 4I, 4I formed with upwardly opening U-shaped seats 42, 42. Each end plate 4I carries a stub-shaft 43 which in turn carries an' enclosing bearing 44. It is by this enclosing bearing 44 that the oscillating agitator is removably supported in the cleaner nozzle for each end wall of the nozzle is provided, below and outside of the support for the rotary agitator 8, with a downwardly facing U-shaped seat 41. 'Ihis seat may be formed integrally in the nozzle wall or may be secured thereto as illustrated in the drawings. Within each seat 41 is a securing spring 48 which is adapted to underlie the bearing 44 when inserted into the seat to prevent accidental downward displacement.

Agitatcr 9 is adapted to 'be inserted upwardly into its seat 41 between the nozzle lips 6 and 1 and when so positioned and secured by the retaining action of springs 48, 48 acting on bearings 44, 44 the surface-contacting beating elements 4D, 40 extend parallel .to the axis of the rotary agitator 8 and are adapted to contact a surface covering undergoing cleaning at the sides thereof, and accordingly at the sides of the lines of contact of brushes 22, 22 of agitator 8 with the covering, as is clearly illustrated in Figure 1.

When positioned within the nozzle each of the upwardly facing U-shaped seats 42, 42 formed in the end plates 4I, 4I of agitator 9 encloses and seats the eccentric 24 upon the adjacent end plate 23 of rotary agitator 8, as is clearly illustrated in Figure l. The eccentric and i-ts seat form a power-transmitting means between the rotary agitator and the oscillating agitator and rotation of the former, effected by power transmitted to it by the belt I0, is directly transmitted into alternate rotary movement or oscilla-tion in the latter by this cooperation.

All movement of the agitator 9 takes place about the stub-shafts 43, 43 which are rotatably mounted, as stated above, by their bearings 44, 44 in nozzle seats 41, 41. The stub-shafts are very nearly in alignment with the agitating elements 4D, 40 and are positioned between the axis of rotation of the rotary agitator and the surface covering undergoing cleaning. As a result the force delivered to the surface covering undergoing cleaning by the oscillating agitator elements 40, 40 is substantially normal to the plane of the surface covering at the point of contact, the covering being lifted slightly within the nozzle by the suction therein. Further, these blows are substantially vertical.

The assembly and disassembly of the agitators in the cleaner nozzle according to the present invention is quite simple. The insertion and removal of the oscillating agitator 9 is accomplished finally by forcing the supporting bearings 44, 44 into or from the seats 4 1, 41. Removal or insertion of the rotary agitator is always accomplished with the oscillating agitator removed from the nozzle and is in-the manner aforedescribed.

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle having a downwardly facing mouth, vertically spaced pairs of downwardly opening agitator supporting seats fixed relative to the nozzle at opposite ends of said nozzle, a rotary brush seated in the upper seats and manually removable downwardly therefrom, an oscillating agitator seated in the lower seats and manually removable downwardly therefrom through said mouth, and power-transmission means between said agitators.

2. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle having a downwardly facing mouth, vertically spaced pairs of xed downwardly opening agitator supporting seats at opposite ends of said nozzle in substantially the same vertical plane, a rotary brush lseated in the upper seats, an oscillating agitator seated inthe' lower seats, and power-transmission means carried partly by said rotary agitator and partly by said oscillating agitator, said parts being separable, said agitators being adapted to be seated and removed individually through the nozzle mouth, and manually releasable means retaining said agitator in said seats.

3. A. suction cleaner having 'a nozzle with a downwardly opening mouth, a pair of downwardly facing agitator-supporting seats at the same height in said nozzle and at the ends thereof, an agitator releasably positioned in said supporting seats, a second pair of agitator seats in said nozzle at the ends thereof and at a lesser height therein than the height of the first pair, an agitator releasably positioned in said second pair of seats and adapted to make surface contact at the sides oi the first agitator, and means to actuate said agitators.

4. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle having a downwardly facing mouth, two pairs of agitatorsupporting seats-in the ends of said nozzle, one of said pairs being above and between the seats of the second pair, aY surface-contacting agitator in one of said pairs of seats, and a divided agitator in the other pair of seats which straddles said first agitator to make surface contact at the sides thereof.

5. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle having a downwardly facing mouth, a first pair of agitatorl supporting seats in the opposite ends of said nozzle, a second pair o agitator-supporting seats below and outside said first pair, a rotary agitator adapted to be inserted through and removed through said mouth seated in said first pair of seats, an oscillating agitator adapted to Ibe inserted through.and removed through said mouth seated in said second pair of seats, and powertransmission means partly on said 'rotary agitator and partly on said oscillating agitator and posii tioned between said first pair of seats.

EDWARD R. SWANN. 

